Society in Rapture
− − Inhabitants − Pre Civil War − Before the Rapture Civil War and the "Fall of Rapture", the city had a normal population structure and setting similar to those in New York City or Chicago. Rapture was newly built with technological marvels and was infused with wealth and the enthusiasm of the new population. Most people lived the life of ordinary urban people, upper/middle/lower classes, with freedoms, stability and removal of the constraints of the surface world. Much of Rapture at this time could be looked at as a Utopia. Within the population, cracks began to appear, because in Ryan's Rapture the poor were tossed aside, subject to unfortunate circumstances without many recourses. Official social programs were banned by Ryan who saw them a parasitism upon the rest of society. He himself knew there would be some problems while Rapture settled into his philosophy. Several major economic 'adjustments' were weathered, but the social structure and society was still much like a sand castle waiting for a wave to collapse it. This horrifically came about because of the introduction of ADAM, which brought society breaking disruptions and opportunities for one who brutally sought ultimate power. − − Civil War − − Ryan's political structure in Rapture can be looked upon with amazement at its naivety or its brilliance. Anyone could get rich by earning it, but this ignored the fact that not everyone was capable of doing so. Many who did not get rich were the victims of hard circumstances, and it drove many into poverty. Ryan's free market policies caused many businesses to flourish, but the competition also caused many them to be bought out by bigger companies. Other industries, like that of construction or the railroad, suddenly ceased to exist. Dog-eat-dog competition caused many people to be forced to live in slums such as Apollo Square. However, an 'out for power' schemer and crook named Frank Fontaine saw this split as a opportunity to overthrow Ryan and take over Rapture for himself. He accumulated wealth using criminal thuggery and by breaking the smuggling law, importing illegal goods from the surface to Rapture, such as bibles and surface grown tobacco. This allowed him to take over many companies and start and drive the ADAM industry. He invested money and time into the communities of the poor and made promises to gain influence and support among these "have-nots". Fontaine really did not care at all about the people, he just wanted the power. By 1958, Fontaine had become a dangerous rival to Ryan. After a long thwarted effort to shut down the smuggling operation, a large fire fight lead by Sullivan between Ryan's men and Fontaines army of thugs and splicers occurred in Port Neptune. The result was Frank Fontaine's apparent (but faked) death. Following this, Ryan had Rapture seize Fontaine's assets, which was seen as going against his philosophies. More people became disillusioned with Ryan. This allowed Fontaine, in the form of Atlas, to foment a rebellion using the poor people and his murderous Splicers against Ryan and his supporters. This effectively was a civil war which required brutal and freedom restricting countermeasures, which would eventually destroy Ryan's Rapture. Because of the disruptions to society, large numbers of the population spliced with ADAM to defend themselves. The excessive use of ADAM, as a side-effect, drove more of the the population insane, accompanied by physical deformities. − − Post Civil War − By the beginning of 1960 and the end of the civil war, Rapture's inhabitants were either people trying to survive, defending what they had left, or ADAM crazed splicers. Ryan had nullified Atlas's army of splicers using a pheromone control and had all but won the war, but by then Rapture was thoroughly wrecked, held together by Ryan alone. It is at this time that Fontaine/Atlas sprung his plan using Jack.